Improvement in fence-wire tighteners



l (J. H. ERB. FenCefWire Tightener. l f

No. 211,139. ,1 1 Patented 1an@ 7,'18791 UNITED STATES PATEN JESSE H. ERB, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN FENCE-WIRE TIGHTENERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 211,139, dated January 7, 1879; application tiled April 29, 187s.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JRssR H. ERB, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and Improved Device for Constructing Wire Fences; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The object I have in view is to produce a wire fence in which the wires will always be maintained at sufficient tension independent of their expansion or contraction, and which will be simple in its construction and will have means for protecting the tension-sprin gs from the weather and for hiding them from sight; and my invention therein consists in placing in the desired number of the posts a metal tube for,each line of wire, and a spring within each tube, the said tubes being closed at their ends by plates, and the endsof the Wire bein g lapped and secured to such plates, so as to compress the springs.

In the drawings, Figure l is an elevation of one side of afwire fence; and Fig. 2, an enlarged sectional View of three of the posts through two wires.

A Al represent the corner posts of the wire fence,.and B an intermediate post. These may through the post for each line of wire, and in this hole is inserted a metal tube, E, in which is placed a spring, F, of proper material. These springs are preferably made of coiled wire, but may be constructed from rubber or other suitable elastic material.

The wires are passed throughthe springs and secured to plates E, which close the endsv of the tubes and compress the springs between them. Each wire passes loosely through the plate E it first reaches, through the spring, and is securedto the opposite plate E', the ends of the wires lapping throughout the length of the tube E.

A pin, a, may be driven through the post B, passing centrally through each tube E and spring F, so as to hold such parts in position and prevent the spring from being pulled from the post when either wire is broken.

`The tension-spring and the other parts just described would not be used in every intermediate post, but only at regular intervals, as may be found necessary. The wires are attached to the other intermediate posts by bef `the wires may be rigidly secured, as at the terminal post A, where, after the wires are stretched to the proper tension by any suitable machine, they are secured, as shown, by wedge-shaped inetal pins b, having heads b', such pins being driven through a proper plate, c, into the post. i

By the use of the spring tension the wires are always kept taut and less posts are required. rIhe springs are also concealed from sight, so as not to mar the symmetry of the fence, and are protected from the effects ofthe weather.

What I claim as my invention is- In a wire fence, the combination, with an intermediate post, B, of the meta-l tubes E, placed therein, the springs F in the tubes, the plates E at the ends of the tubes, and the wires D, lapped at their ends and secured to the plates E', constructed and arranged substantially as described and shown.

This specification signed and witnessed this 18th day ot'` February, 1878.

JESSE ERB.

Ferron. 

